Winklevoss Twins File Zcash ETF While Gemini's Custody Business Faces Collapse
The Winklevoss brothers filed a non-binding $100 million pledge for a new Zcash spot ETF trading under ticker WINK after the privacy-focused cryptocurrency surged sevenfold while Bitcoin declined 30% over the past year. The filing reveals that Gemini's custody revenue plummeted 67% to $0.6 million in the second quarter, suggesting the ETF serves as a strategic lifeline for the exchange rather than a move driven purely by Zcash's price potential. The new WINK fund will compete with Grayscale's existing ZCSH, which has already attracted $306 million in assets.
The Winklevoss twins' investment vehicle has indicated interest in funding a new exchange-traded fund centered on Zcash, a privacy-oriented digital asset that has demonstrated substantially stronger performance metrics than Bitcoin over the preceding twelve months. The proposed fund would maintain physical holdings of the cryptocurrency in offline storage managed by the Winklevoss-controlled Gemini custodial entity and would be listed on Nasdaq under a distinct ticker symbol.
Gemini Space Station, the publicly traded parent company, has experienced significant financial strain, with its custody division reporting revenue of less than $1 million in the second quarter while the organization accumulated substantial quarterly losses and depleted cash reserves. The establishment of this new fund could generate additional custody fees and related revenue for Gemini's struggling operations.
This development could affect multiple stakeholder groups: existing Zcash investors may experience market effects from increased institutional accessibility; potential ETF investors might gain simplified exposure to the privacy-focused asset class; and Gemini creditors and shareholders could see implications from the exchange's financial trajectory. However, the move may also concentrate decision-making power and economic incentives within a single corporate structure, potentially raising questions about custodial independence and fiduciary alignment across interconnected entities.